Brewster 'A Glimpse of War through a Private's Eyes', a retrospective account of experiences in World War I, 1915-1917 / John James Brewster - Page 115
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[Page 115]
line soon respected as a pretty keen shooter. There were also two very good "snipers" hidden somewhere, whence the country at the back of our duck board walk could be seen, and some very narrow escapes occurred but so far no one was actually hit.
After the first day the work on the firestep was tackled by the men with the keenest of enthusiasm all hesitating doubts & fears having been overcome completely. Also keen interest arose from the fact that a reward was promised to the man who "dropped" one of the "snipers". Both officers & men would at all times be watching for an opportunity to get one of them.
One incident occurred which at first was thought might be attended with dire results. One of the officers came into the bay opposite the Hun Cookhouse intending to have a "look" to try to discover a sniper who we knew was firing from a position on our right flank, when he noticed the sentry on duty was looking through the loop hole, showing only one eye. The officer immediately protested that the proper way was to put the whole of the face into the space made by the loop hole.
The men on duty looked upon such a proceeding as an invitation to be shot, & one of them jumped up on to the firestep to the other loop hole & watching an opportunity to get a "target" going from trench to Cookhouse fired! The effect of the shooting so sudden scared the officer that he ducked his head quick & lively & as the Hun Machine Gun fire started immediately after to cut & rip the tops of the bags, the officer plainly saw that to hold the whole of the face to the loop hole was simply courting disaster & the sentry was allowed to keep his watch his own careful way. In fact next day all sentries had to wear a sand bag over their heads (with two eye holes cut in it) in order to reduce the chance of being seen.
The next time that officer came into "that" bay he was very careful how he approached the loop hole